My husband has been requesting a soap that features some of his favorite scents: West Indies Bay, Dark Patchouli, and Mexican Lime. I decided to whip up an extremely simple palm-free formula for him, with the lather boosting love of Aloe Vera, and skin-friendly colorants, like nettle leaf, comfrey leaf, and french green clay.

Since the essential oil blend is on the costly side for soapmaking, I used simple and inexpensive base oils, colorants, and additives to combat the high price tag.

I used an in-the-mold swirl technique that I refer to as a spoon swirl, (not to be confused with a spoon plop which is similar to a faux funnel swirl), which uses a simple spoon to twirl the interior of the soap in the mold. (I believeCeline of iamhandmade popularized this technique.)

Colorants Used

PREP WORK: Weigh out your soaping oils. I like to add my essential oils to my main soap pot so I can’t possibly forget them later. Make up your lye solution, too!

I keep my Titanium Dioxide premixed and diluted, so I can easily add it to my soap. If you don’t, you’ll want to prep your TD. In two separate measuring cups, I measured out the nettle leaf powder in one and the comfrey leaf powder with the french green clay in another, both mixed with a small amount of oils from the main batch of oils.

Nettle Leaf + Oil Mixture on the left, Comfrey Leaf, French Green Clay, + Oil Mixture on the right

GET STARTED: Add your lye solution to your soaping oils.

Stick blend until barely emulsified, or use a whisk if you are soaping over 85 degrees F. This essential oil blend is a mover, so you want to keep your mixing to the absolute minimum (but it’s well worth it!)

Add your Titanium Dioxide to the whole batch, if you are using it. (Titanium Dioxide will very mildly accelerate trace, like many other pigments. Some “natural” soapmakers choose not to use it – it’s up to you!)

Pour a third of the batch into the two measuring cups, so you have two-thirds of your batch in your soap pot, one-sixth in your nettle, and one-sixth in comfrey/french green clay mix.

Adding the Aloe Vera lye solution to the oilsAdding Titanium Dioxide to the emulsified spicy lime soap batchSplit the batch of spicy lime soapFully incorporate the natural colorants into the spicy lime soap

POUR IT: Pour all of your french green clay/comfrey soap into your mold, and lightly tap your mold on your table to even the layer of soap out.

Flood fill (pour the soap over a spatula onto the bottom layer) or pour/scoop your next layer using half of the plain (white or uncolored) soap from the soaping pot.

Add a layer of your nettle leaf colored soap (using almost all of it – you want to reserve about one-sixth for the top of the soap!)

Top your mold off with the remainder of your plain (white or uncolored) soap.

Pouring the first layer of the French Green Clay + Comfrey Leaf Soap into the moldPouring the second layer of the Plain/White Spicy Lime Soap into the moldPouring the third layer of the Nettle Leaf colored spicy lime soap into the moldPouring the last layer of the Uncolored/White spicy lime soap into the mold

SWIRL IT: Insert a spoon into your loaf at a 45 degree angle, and twist the spoon in your hand as you move it down the length of your mold. This will move the soap on the interior of the mold in a circular motion, without mixing it completely.

Once you reach the end of your soap mold, you should have fully rotated the spoon approximately three to five times.

Turn your mold completely around and repeat the spoon swirl down the length of the mold in the opposite direction of the original spoon swirl.

Inserting the spoon into the soap at a 45 degree angle to spoon swirlFinishing the spoon swirl down one side of the loaf of spicy lime soap

FINISH IT UP: Add the remainder of the nettle leaf soap on the top of your batch, and finish the top as you please!

Spritz the top with rubbing alcohol when it loses the sheen of wet soap, and cover with plastic wrap to help keep the ash monsters away.

Topping off the spicy lime soap with the remainder of the Nettle Leaf colored soapTexturing the top of the spicy lime soap with a spoon

Remove the soap from the mold, slice it up, and give it a good cure. Enjoy!

Hey-ho, I'm the soapy founder of Modern Soapmaking, and I eat, breathe, and sleep soap. (Okay, I don't eat soap... that's gross.) My passion is in helping other soapmakers find their path, whether it's in the craft or as an entrepreneur. Maybe, I can help you find yours?

I bought some black pepper a few years back trying to duplicate a candle. That didn’t turn out so well ! I’m hoping my nose likes it so I can finally use it in something I love. The lime from The Perfumery is amazing you could drink it… I’m seeing it in blends more often. Blended with oils I’d never think of… thank you

I love the essential oil combo but it’s a little pricey to make on a large scale. So I do a similar blend that seems to appeal to men a lot. It’s Lime, Litsea, and Black Pepper essential oils & use Brambleberry’s 10″ mold as well. Love the mixture of the elemental & ITMS you demonstrated. I stopped posting about it on other soap making forums though as I always get so many comments that Lime is a photo sensitizer & Black Pepper is a skin sensitizer. Love the look of yours & bet it smells divine!

Hey, Melessa,
I haven’t made this particular soap, but I’ve made a ton of soap with French green clay, and it always holds it’s color. So, even if the nettle morphs, I suspect you will still get a bit of green from the clay. Hopefully someone who has made this particular recipe can pop in with their experience!

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